Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/308

394 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 54. Pope was ready to grant the necessary dispensation. 1 It was thought that a possibility so much dreaded would rouse Alva from his inaction. Philip's new Queen 2 was on her way through the Netherlands to Madrid. Her voyage and the insecurity of the seas had required the assembly of a powerful escort, and the fleet which was floating on the Scheldt could be directed to a second purpose if an opportunity presented itself for a sudden landing at the mouth of the Thames. If by any means the release of the Queen of Scots could be effected, fifteen or twenty thousand men could be thrown across, before Elizabeth could have notice of her danger. The Catholics would immediately rise, Mary Stuart would be proclaimed, France paralyzed, the Queen taken pri- soner, and Cecil and his party destroyed. The country would be conquered without* a struggle, the pirate fleets annihilated, and, among other happy issues, the revo- lution that overthrew Elizabeth would end the rebellion in the Low Countries. 3 By disbanding her army she was preparing her neck for the stroke. 1 The relationship between Mary Stuart and the Due d'Anjou was precisely the same as that between HenryYllI.andhis brother's widow. 2 Anne of Austria, daughter of Maximilian. 3 'En el raismo tiempo con quinze d viente mill infantes y la caballeria que pareciese couvenieute entrar por esta Isla, haciendo levantar todos los Catolicos, los quales,si seaseguran de la persona de la Reyna, tendrian la mavor parte de la empresa acabada, y aun asegurarse luego de Cecil y Leicester y Bedford seria muy con- veniente, y no menos el tomar la armada en Rochester. Todo lo qual es harto facil, y no falta sino persona principal para executar, y en todo pretender el nombre de la Reyna de Escocia por hallar menos contradic- tion en el reyno, y no dar sospecha a los vezinos. Yo tengo por cierto que siuo es por esta via jamas el reyno de Inglaterra siendo Protestante dexara de inquietar las cosas de Flandes.